Methods and apparatus for creating overlays according to trending information

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for providing a trending tool for presenting trending information measured or collected with regard to a content page within the context of a display of the content page. In some cases, a trending tool may be used to present trending information based on analytics data for a given selectable item of the content page, such as a clickable link or image, where the trending information may be displayed proximate to the given selectable item within the user interface. The trending information may be determined from the analytics data over a given period or periods of time. Further, the visual presentation of the trending information within, for example, an overlay may be modified based on the trending information, or based on other selected elements of the analytics data or based on other calculations of the analytics data.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method for presenting, within the context of a web page or other content page, trend analytics data for hyperlinks and any other selectable items displayed within the content page, comprising:
 displaying, within a user interface, a content page accessed by a plurality of users over a computer network, the content page displaying a plurality of selectable items 
 receiving, from an analytics data server, measured analytics data for analyzing how the plurality of users engage over periods of time with the selectable items displayed the content page; and 
 in response to receiving, within the user interface, user input selecting a configuration for presenting one or more types of trending information over one or more specified periods of time for a subset of the selectable items displayed on the content page:
 retrieving the one or more types of trending information for each of the selectable items in the subset, wherein the trending information is based on the measured analytics data and indicates how each of the plurality of users engages with each of the selectable items in the subset at two or more points in time over the one or more specified periods of time; and 
 displaying, within the user interface and within the context of the content page, for each of the selectable items in the subset, a presentation of the corresponding trending information within an overlay proximate to and visually associated with the respective selectable item based on said selected configuration, the overlay comprising a visual characteristic indicating a positive or negative trend value of the respective trending information for the respective selectable item. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the overlay for each of the plurality of selectable items, is displayed prior to the presentation of trending information therein. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a trending graph, the trending graph corresponding to the trending information for the subset of selectable items; 
 receiving input indicating one or more of the points in time along the trending graph; and 
 updating, for each of the selectable items in the subset, the corresponding trending information within the overlay proximate to and visually associated with the respective selectable item to correspond to the indicated points in time along the trending graph. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 for each of the selectable items in the subset, modifying the visual characteristic of each respective overlay based on a positive or negative change to the trend value of the respective trending information for the respective selectable item. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said retrieving comprises communicating with the analytics data server to query the analytics data server for a subset of analytics data corresponding to parameters describing the subset of selectable items and the one or more specified periods of time. 
     
     
       6. A system for presenting, within the context of a web page or other content page, trend analytics data for hyperlinks and any other selectable items displayed within the content page, comprising:
 a computer comprising a processor and a memory; and 
 one or more application modules in the memory that, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
 display, within a user interface, a content page accessed by a plurality of users over a computer network, the content page displaying a plurality of selectable items 
 receive, from an analytics data server, measured analytics data for analyzing how the plurality of users engage over periods of time with the selectable items displayed the content page; and 
 in response to receiving, within the user interface, user input selecting a configuration for presenting one or more types of trending information over one or more specified periods of time for a subset of the selectable items displayed on the content page:
 retrieve the one or more types of trending information for each of the selectable items in the subset, wherein the trending information is based on the measured analytics data and indicates how each of the plurality of users engages with each of the selectable items in the subset at two or more points in time over the one or more specified periods of time; and 
 display, within the user interface and within the context of the content page, for each of the selectable items in the subset, a presentation of the corresponding trending information within an overlay proximate to and visually associated with the respective selectable item based on said selected configuration, the overlay comprising a visual characteristic indicating a positive or negative trend value of the respective trending information for the respective selectable item. 
 
 
 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6 , wherein the overlay for each of the plurality of selectable items is displayed prior to the presentation of the trending information therein. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more application modules further configure the processor to:
 display a trending graph, the trending graph presenting a graph corresponding to the trending information for the subset of selectable items; 
 receive input indicating one or more of the points in time along the trending graph; and 
 update, for each of the selectable items in the subset, the corresponding trending information within the overlay proximate to and visually associated with the respective selectable item to correspond to the indicated points in time along the trending graph. 
 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more application modules further configure the processor to:
 for each of the selectable items in the subset, modify the visual characteristic of each respective overlay based on a positive or negative change to the trend value of respective trending information for the respective selectable item. 
 
     
     
       10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions for presenting, within the context of a web page or other content page, trend analytics data for hyperlinks and any other selectable items displayed within the content page that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform:
 displaying, within a user interface, a content page accessed by a plurality of users over a computer network, the content page displaying a plurality of selectable items 
 receiving, from an analytics data server, measured analytics data for analyzing how the plurality of users engage over periods of time with the selectable items displayed the content page; and 
 in response to receiving, within the user interface, user input selecting a configuration for presenting one or more types of trending information over one or more specified periods of time for a subset of the selectable items displayed on the content page:
 retrieving the one or more types of trending information for each of the selectable items in the subset, wherein the trending information is based on the measured analytics data and indicates how each of the plurality of users engages with each of the selectable items in the subset at two or more points in time over the one or more specified periods of time; and 
 displaying, within the user interface and within the context of the content page, for each of the selectable items in the subset, a presentation of the corresponding trending information within an overlay proximate to and visually associated with the respective selectable item based on said selected configuration, the overlay comprising a visual characteristic indicating a positive or negative trend value of the respective trending information for the respective selectable item. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein said displaying the corresponding trending information for each selectable item in the subset comprises displaying the presentation of trending information within a previously displayed overlay. 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further stores additional program instructions that when executed by the computing device cause the computing device to perform:
 displaying a trending graph, the trending graph presenting a graph corresponding to the trending information for the subset of selectable items; 
 receiving input indicating one or more of the points in time along the trending graph; and 
 updating, for each of the selectable items in the subset, the corresponding trending information within the overlay proximate to and visually associated with the respective selectable item to correspond to the indicated points in time along the trending graph. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium further stores additional program instructions that when executed by the computing device cause the computing device to perform:
 for each of the selectable items in the subset, modifying the visual characteristic of each respective overlay based on a positive or negative change to the trend value of respective trending information for the respective selectable item. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each respective overlay proximate to and visually associated with each respective selectable item is displayed as an icon, such that the icon tapers toward the respective selectable item to indicate its association therewith. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , further comprising, responsive to an interaction with the displayed icon, displaying an additional overlay presenting additional analytics information corresponding to the respective selectable item. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 3 , further comprising, responsive to an interaction with a particular selectable item in the subset, changing the trending graph to present a graph corresponding to the trending information for the particular selectable item.